Category Archives: Wheat Ale

We’ve had this thing with the O’Brian lads where they keep brewing, and we keep up-to-speed on their progress. It started in Lombard at the location that is now AfterThought, and then they moved up north and the Flesk Brewing brewpub was born. Our last visit was back at the end of June 2017, and Will gave the Brit as special bottle of their 1st Anniversary Imperial Porter. The Brit said let’s crack it open on your 1st anniversary of the brewpub. And so that’s what we did.

The Brit is joined on this edition by ex-tavern owner John Karwoski, and they headed up to Barrington, where among the hub-bub of the FleskFest, we chatted with Will and James O’Brian about their first year, and sampled the three collaborations they have on tap for this event and ongoing until they’re gone!

We celebrate with them by opening a bottle of Flesk 1.0, !st Anniversary Imperial Porter from 2013, which turned out to have mellowed into a VERY tasty brew. Our photos below also show our two pre-show brews, left Moro Blood Orange IPA, and right Patio Party Raspberry Sour…both tasty!

6 months later, Pollyanna’s second location continues to grow and thrive. After a brief report recorded during a very noisy soft opening night, Taproom Manager Jay Rosicky invited the B&Y Landlord, Phil Clark, to come back, and chat about how things are progressing and what to expect from this Roselle IL location. VP of Operations, Ed Malnar, joined us and not only did we sample some of the Pollyanna brews, but Phil brought along a couple that we top and tail the podcast with some reviews.

First up is a mystery beer, well at least to our guests. Buffalo Creek Brewing in Long Grove is starting to can some of their brews, and head brewer and owner, Mike Marr, provided a sneak peek can to the podcast so we can sample and review the brew. They will have 3 varieties in cans eventually, but this one is their Beau Fleu, DIPA.

Then the Pollyanna Spring/Summer lineup is produced and we sample 3 great beers, one which is only available at the Roselle location. And while we sample, we chat on stories about the brewery, their future plans, and the atmosphere you can expect if you visit.

We also added another ‘wild and sour’ brew at the end from Imperial Oak’s Savage Oak series, just to see if the Pollyanna crew might start to get worried!